Lucifero voice roared across the battlefield, but there was something under the fury… disbelief.
"How… HOW?! A wretch of a being that has never lived for millennia dares to grasp the soul magic itself?! That wretch's soul—!" His teeth ground together, voice cracking into a snarl. "—just managed to shatter my Judgment! Even I could not…!"
The words were shock, the kind only a king feels when forced to acknowledge something beyond their rule. That a lower being had just detached part of their very soul and turned it into a weapon shook him to his core.
On the ground, Makima's lips curved into the faintest smile. Her thoughts drifted, to a memory. Kang Woo… even in death,? Did you foresee that one day my potential would outlast even what I was aware of?
A sharp tug on fabric brought her attention back. Himeno was gripping Aki's collar, shaking him with tears still on her cheeks but a grin pulling at her lips. "Aki—we're still alive. You better keep your promise… that we'll be more than partners."
Aki blinked, still processing the miracle they'd just witnessed. His voice came low, almost dazed. "I'm more surprised… that Makima's even capable of this feat."
Denji and Power just stood there, mouths half-open, gaping like they'd been hit in the head but too dumb to comment.
Kishibe, however, pieced it together quickly. He knew Makima couldn't have pulled this off without Kang Woo's influence—her previous abilities were never this immense. The current her could give Kishibe a headache; his anti-Makima squad wouldn't even be able to hurt her, let alone kill her, if she ever became a threat. With a crooked smirk, he flicked his gaze toward her.
"The fuck kind of jackpot you hit today… Did you make a contract with another alien besides Kang Woo?"
Makima didn't even glance his way. A faint pulse rippled against the skin of her right hand. On the back of her palm, ,
the closed eye of Mikhail twitched—then cracked open just enough to reveal the faint gleam of awareness. A dry, sardonic voice slid into her mind . I figured you'd be scattered in pieces somewhere by now.
Makima's response came with her usual calm edge, tinged with irritation.
That's a very pessimistic point of view. Now—how the hell am I supposed to bypass Lucifero's defenses? Every time I go for a vital, I hit something that feels like steel under his skin.
Lucifero's fury erupted in motion. He conjured a colossal boulder from the fractured landscape, his gravity magic shaping it into a brutal, jagged blade. Evil God Pressure Craft. With a grunt, he hurled it earthward, the sheer weight tearing through the air like a falling mountain.
Makima's black wing snapped once, hard. The impact of its thrust sent her soaring clear, the boulder smashing into the ground with an earthquake roar, rubble bursting upward. She didn't falter—she was already shifting her stance, blade in hand, prepared to meet him in close quarters.
But Lucifero didn't descend. He lingered in the sky, his presence heavy, his gaze fixed. He wasn't rushing in like before. He was keeping his distance.
Makima's pupils narrowed. … my soul strike really did scare him.
And then the dry, knowing voice whispered in her head. Mikhail stirred from her left palm, its eye twitching faintly as circles of runes rippled outward.
I see you've already grasped the core of the soul. Not many can do that, the entity murmured with something like grim respect.
Makima's telepathic reply carried her usual dryness, though she was panting from the clash. Is it that special? I just… shot something out of my finger.
No, Mikhail snapped, sharper now. You tore a piece of yourself free and weaponized it. That feat alone would shatter most beings..
Makima's hand flexed, chains rattling faintly from her wrist as she absorbed his words.
No time to argue, Mikhail continued,. Listen carefully, because right now—we have a legit chance to win.
Lucifero hovered over the ruins of Tokyo, his vast wings beating slow, deliberate strokes that stirred storms of dust and ash below. His crimson gaze swept across the shattered skyline, and he caught sight of Makima's companions—frail, manaless beings clinging to survival. To him, they were wretches, invalids unworthy of even recognition.
Yet his attention wasn't on them. His hand rose unconsciously, brushing across his own face, fingertips grazing the deep scar burned into him. The rage simmered in silence.
A being like her… in a world this barren of mana… suddenly wielding magic? His thoughts churned, heavy with disbelief. And worse… separating her own soul, striking directly at mine.
For the first time in countless eons, Lucifero could feel it—damage in a place no wound should ever reach. His devil heart throbbed faintly in his chest, a reminder of that impossible attack.
If I take another direct hit like that… I will lose.
He narrowed his eyes, scanning the battlefield. The city lay in ruin beneath him, the skies his domain. Here, in the open, he had air superiority. He could crush her from above endlessly.
But something gnawed at the back of his mind. A weight that refused to shake.
Should I rush her… or wait? His wings flexed, tension rolling through his massive frame. I have the skies, I have the advantage… … this bad feeling won't leave me.
Lucifero's third eye narrowed. He caught a flicker beneath Makima's feet—Zaiphon runes, circling faintly like orbiting sigils. A chill prickled through him.. She was growing stronger.
He bull-rushed forward, tearing the air apart with raw velocity. His fist , wrapped in Gravity Magic: Heavy Infighting. Each swing came down with crushing weight, every impact slamming into the earth like a meteor. Craters bloomed under his fists, shockwaves blasting apart the already-ruined streets. This time, his blows were a hundred times heavier than before.
And yet—none of them landed.
Makima slipped past every strike, her single black wing guiding her movements in fluent arcs. . She simply dodged, gliding around him as if the devastation was a choreographed dance.
Lucifero snarled, thrusting his palm forward. Gravity Magic: Gravity Singularity. A black hole swirled into existence, its pull ripping nearby rubble into ribbons. But to his surprise, Makima lunged toward him instead of away.
Lucifero poured his rage into it, expanding the singularity to building-size in an instant. The pull howled, dragging everything around it into oblivion. But Makima spun past the edge, narrowly escaping as the vortex collapsed behind her.
Lucifero's eyes widened. Impossible… has she become immune to gravity after only minutes of fighting me?
He braced himself, mana roaring through every vein. His skin flared, layered with every ounce of his strength, hardened like a living fortress. Fine. If she won't fall to tricks, then I'll crush her with my full weight.
But Makima didn't strike. Instead, she bounded lightly onto the bent remains of a lamp post, balancing with effortless grace. She stood there, one wing extended, her sword lowered, smiling faintly. Her stance wasn't of a warrior bracing for war—but of someone… dancing.
The realization hit Lucifero like a hammer blow. His pride screamed, his rage boiled to the surface, but still he bit back the words. He would not give her the satisfaction of hearing them.
Instead, he unleashed everything.
"Gravity Magic: Presence of Demon King!" he roared.
The air caved inward. Entire buildings collapsed flat in an instant, crushed into dust like paper under stone. This time, the weight wasn't spread across the battlefield—every ounce of it was concentrated directly on Makima.
She felt it at once. Her body dragged downward, heavier than she'd ever imagined, her bones groaning under the pressure until she was pinned to the cracked asphalt.
Lucifero advanced triumphantly, each step sending tremors through the ruins. In his third hand, a pulsing singularity spun, compacting tighter and tighter, ready to swallow her whole.
But Makima… smiled. The illusion peeled away, reality unraveling. What Lucifero had been chasing wasn't Makima at all—but the Eye of Mikhail. It floated there now in its raw form, a spherical blood-red stone, no larger than an eyeball, its jagged branches twitching like veins. The illusion that once terrified gods themselves flickered and burned out, revealing its true exhausted shell.
The Eye traced glowing Zaiphon script into the air, its voice echoing not in sound but in truth.
"Show me, then. your soul's strength. Prove our race wrong, Makima."
The singularity swallowed it whole. The red glow winked out in an instant. And then .The heavens answered.
Above, the vast reishi canopy Kang Woo had once drawn down with his Auswählen—an endless ocean of light spanning kilometers—began to stir. It folded in on itself, streams converging into a single vortex. The sky dimmed as it was drawn inward, compressed tighter, sharper, until it formed a radiant cocoon suspended high above the battlefield. It pulsed like a heartbeat. It was an awakening.
Within that reishi chrysalis, Makima's form blurred almost out of existence, her Quincy potential being forced to its edge . The runes of Zaiphon and Quincy mingled, orbiting the cocoon like nomadic stars as the awakening ripened second by second.
Lucifero panicked., the King of Devils looked less like a sovereign and more like a cornered beast. His wings snapped wide and he flew at blistering speed, desperate to tear Makima apart before, something irreparable, emerged.
But Aki and Denji moved first. Himeno and Power had thrown them as far as they could, and though their bodies ached, both landed in his path to block him even for a heartbeat.
Lucifero's third eye narrowed. His fist slammed forward. "OUT OF MY WAYYY!"
His strike smashed Denji square across his chainsaw-covered chest, flinging him like a ragdoll into Aki. Both boys tumbled helplessly through the air.
Plan failed, Denji thought grimly, his voice hollow even inside his own skull.
Aki's last thought burned sharper— Makima-san 's going to be killed before her plan… before it even takes shape—
Lucifero's clawed hand stretched forward, gravity swirling as he loomed over the cocoon. His voice dripped triumph. "Goodbye… oh wretch who only knows scraps of soul and magic."
Then it cracked. The chrysalis shattered with a thunderclap. BOOOOM. A pillar of pure blue shot skyward, a Quincy awakening—Vollständig—detonating across the heavens. The light splintered like glass and dissolved, leaving silence in its wake.
And Makima was nowhere to be found.
From below, Himeno's eyes went wide as she saw Aki and Denji falling through the sky, limbs flailing. She sprinted with all she had, ignoring the chaos, ready to risk everything to catch Aki. Denji was immortal—he'd heal. But Aki… her partner, her love, the one who had finally accepted her—she wouldn't let him fall alone.
But it was too far. Too fast. Then—a blur. A streak of blue cut across the sky at lightspeed.
In the blink of an eye, Makima appeared. Her arms caught both Aki and Denji as if they weighed nothing. She landed before Himeno, setting them safely down as the shockwave of her arrival cracked the earth.
Himeno's breath caught. In front of her stood someone both familiar and alien.
Makima's form was complete. On her right side unfurled the single black wing of Commandment. On her left, a vast wing of luminous reishi, glowing like a blade of heaven. Above her head spun a reishi halo, formed as a perfect Quincy Zeichen.
Her left eye burned with its usual yellow iris, red rings swirling inside—but her sclera had turned luminous blue, radiating Quincy strength. Her right eye was sharp and dark, its black pupil cutting deep with the authority of the Commandment Kang Woo had bestowed.
Himeno staggered, her voice trembling as she whispered the question that hung in all their hearts. "Makima-san… are you still the Makima we know?"
Makima tilted her head slightly, the faintest curve at the corner of her lips. Her answer came with that same sarcastic coolness that only she could deliver.
"I'm still Makima—your hard-work boss who keeps ordering you idiots around. The only difference is that my identity as the Control Devil's been exposed… and your Prime Minister fired me, branded me a criminal."
Denji scratched the back of his head, snorting. "Good joke, Makima-san. Just don't tell me Kang Woo's personality rubbed off on you too much. I already hated him."
Makima didn't bother dignifying that with more than a glance. Her attention shifted to Aki, who stood watching her with a seriousness that never left him.
"Makima-san," aki asked quietly, "did your plan succeed…? And that eyeball Mikhail ?"
Makima stepped closer and, in a gesture so rare it nearly froze him where he stood, patted his head gently. Her eyes were calm, her voice carrying a strange, deliberate warmth.
"It did. You can rest now, Aki-kun. And … resign from Public Safety. That's my final order to you, not as your leader… but as someone who's seen enough Devotion Stay with Himeno. Live the rest of your life as you should have from the start. Live… a normal life."
The words carried the weight of release—Makima loosening the leash she had always wrapped around him.
Himeno crossed her arms, letting out a little "hmph," but the faint, unguarded smile tugging at her lips betrayed her true feelings. Inside, her heart swelled.
Finally ,as himeno got second confirmation , … . Aki can live free. He deserves better—and now, he'll finally have it
Above them, Lucifero raised another boulder with his magic, compressing it until it became a monstrous sword—three kilometers long, the same size he had once hurled to erase Makima and all of Japan.
But this time, before it could even reach its apex, a massive Heilig Pfeil lanced upward from the earth. The arrow glowed like a divine judgment and pierced straight through the sword, shattering it into dust and rubble midair.
Makima exhaled, her voice steady, though the faint tremor gave her anger away.
"Now I'm very irritated. There's this ache in my chest. You forced that useless eyeball Mikhail into pulling some ridiculous decoy act—and because of it, I ended up here. All thanks to my talkative fiancé, Kang Woo, and his little pet eye. For the second time today… I have the urge to tear someone apart."